Russian media tamed under Putin's reign

Journalists have been intimidated or bought out under Vladimir Putin, who will run for president again in 2012.

Journalists in Russia have been harassed, beaten, jailed and killed for uncovering crime and corruption in their country. Dozens have been murdered since 2000, which Vladimir Putin first took power as president.

Though Putin has waited in the wings as prime minister for the past three years, his likely return to the presidency in 2012 has alarmed independent journalists and the families of those who have been killed, such as, Anna Politkovskaya, a well-known reporter for Novaya Gazeta. She was shot dead outside her Moscow flat five years ago, but her killers are yet to be convicted.

Though Russian investigators have filed new charges against a group of men thought to be behind Politkovskaya's murder, journalists like her are rarer than their television counterparts, such as those at NTV, a channel owned by state-run Gazprom which shows little interest in covering the opposition to Putin and his allies.

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